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Finally! I have finished the install of the scoop! I think it turned out great! Click on the small pictures for larger versions.
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Three quarter side. |
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Straight-on (nearly straight). |
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Hood open. |
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Close-up with hood open. |
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Driver perspective. |
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Closed hood side. |
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Closed hood straight-on. |
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Link to Banshee Performance. |
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Banshee Performance Ram Jet hood scoop.
Click on these links to see a couple of
install articles:
http://www.stangnet.com/reviews/banshee
http://www.mustangweekly.com/2001/February/banshee/bansheepg1.asp
Here are some of my own install observations that are not in the above articles.
Removing the hood can be done fairly easy with two people, but getting it back on would have been MUCH easier with three people. You really need two to hold the hood, and one to allign and tighten it. I did it with just my wife to help (she MUST love me), but I was just being impatient - if you are doing the install yourself, please try to get three people to help put the hood back on - you will thank me (and so will your significant other)!
When you remove the insulation (I've been told its only purpose is for sound deadening, not protecting the paint on the hood) and "Y" bracing from under the hood you will see that Ford never thought this area would be seen - the paint quality is pretty poor. On my hood the brace that runs on the drivers side beside the scoop hole is about 50/50 gray primer/body color. The area revealed by removing the brace is all primer, as it was obviously painted body color after the brace was attached to the hood. If you want a "show quality" underhood you will most likely need to have the entire underhood painted. I simply used a close match touch up spray can after a coat of primer on the center section only. I was told that I didn't need high-temp paint for under the hood - I may have a problem with that, but time will tell. Bottom line is that you will be living with it, so you can decide if a less than show-quality underhood is good enough. Also remember that when the hood is on and propped up it is at an angle that keeps it pretty much in the shadows, and people will be looking at the scoop more than the hole anyway.
Another quick underhood item is how to remove the foam insulation dots that hold the brace to the hood. I simply scraped the foam off with my fingernail, then used isopropyl alcohol to remove the sticky residue. This got me down to bare metal, which is a good reason to prime before painting.
To cut the hole for the scoop, the instructions tell you to use a 3 inch cut-off wheel. Well, I don't have one and I didn't want to rent one along with a compressor. I drilled 4 pilot holes with a drill, then I used a neighbors industrial strength Bosh Jig Saw with a new metal cutting blade for the top, bottom and side cuts - then a Dremel with 1 and 1/4 inch cut-off wheel for the rounded corners. This worked pretty well, but I did use the Dremel with a grinding bit and then sander bit to smooth out the rounded edges that were a bit rough. If you do this - test on an area in the middle of the area that you will be cutting out first, so if you have a dull bit or other problem you will only be messing up an area that will eventually be removed. The above is just to let you know what I did - cut the hole at your own risk - do not blame me for any problems!
Take your time when mounting the new airbox, the screws have to line up at just the right angle to screw into the stock mounting location. Because of the tight area to work it is hard to line this up, again note that I have a mass air and A/C equipped car - your application may be different. You don't want to strip the mounting threads, I eventually went to a hardware store and bought a new longer screw for the side closest to the shock tower so I would have a little more room to maneuver. The stock screws have a guide point before the threads start (hard to describe) to help them line up, but you can't re-use the stock screws. Go slow here, it is better to strip the screws than the mounting threads - I stripped two screws doing this, but you can get the exact same screws at any hardware store for less than a buck.
Because the Banshee airbox is larger than the stock one, I had a clearance problem with my alarm siren. It seems that between the airbox and shock tower is one of the only areas under the hood that has enough room to easily fit the siren that came with the alarm, and no matter how much I tried (including cutting the siren bell) I could not get the siren to fit after installing the airbox. Note that my car has mass air and A/C - your setup may be different. I finally had to buy a miniature sized siren, which fit perfectly. At some point I may ask a stereo/alarm shop if they can find a better place to put the stock one, but for now the new siren will do. It seems just as loud as the one that came with the alarm, but it only has one tone instead of the 5 or 6 variable siren sounds (some people who hate the multiple tone alarms may find this a bonus).
That's about all I can think of at this point. Feel free to email me if you have any more questions, and I will try to help you out. Banshee is also very helpful, they answered my questions promptly (via email). I have only done a couple of the modifications to my car myself, and this was one of them - so it is possible for someone to do it themselves without having to much experience.